Precision Drilling Corporation is the largest
drilling rig
A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to ...
contractor in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, also providing oil field rental and supplies.
History
Precision Drilling Ltd. was founded in 1951.
In 1987, Precision Drilling was acquired by Cypress Drilling, led by president Hank Swartout, in a
reverse takeover
A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...
which left the company with a fleet of 19 rigs.
Swartout led the company through extensive growth until his retirement in 2007.
In 2005, Precision sold its energy services and international contract-drilling divisions to
Weatherford International for $2.28 billion and reorganized as an
income trust
An income trust is an investment that may hold equities, debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. It is especially useful for financial requirements of institutional investors such as pension funds, and for investors such as retired ...
.
Precision converted from an income trust back to a corporation in 2010.
In 2008, Precision acquired its US rival Grey Wolf Inc. for $2 billion, a merger which expanded its rig count in the US, which it had largely left in 2005, over tenfold. The acquisition led to financial difficulties which led to a $330M CAD investment by the
Alberta Investment Management Corporation
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is a Canadian crown corporation and institutional investor owned by the Government of Alberta, established to manage several public funds and pensions headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. AIMCo was ...
(AIMCo) in 2009, characterized by ''
Maclean's
''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...
'' as a
bailout
A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global syst ...
.
AIMCo divested its stake in 2013.
In 2018, Precision attempted to purchase
Trinidad Drilling
Trinidad Drilling Ltd. was a corporation headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that operated in the drilling and well servicing sectors of the North American oil and gas industry. Trinidad was acquired by Ensign Energy Services between late 201 ...
with over $1B CAD of shares as a
white knight
A white knight is a mythological figure and literary stock character. They are portrayed alongside a black knight as diametric opposites. A white knight usually represents a heroic warrior fighting against evil, with the role in medieval literatu ...
, opposing the cash bid of competitor
Ensign Energy Services
Ensign Energy Services Inc. is a publicly traded Canada, Canadian company that provides oilfield services for the North American and international market. Founded in 1987, Ensign is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Ensign's Common Shares are pu ...
, however a drop in Precision's share price and thus bid value resulted in Ensign's bid prevailing.
In September 2019, amid a difficult
energy sector
The energy industry refers to all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy industry is a cr ...
in Alberta, Precision Drilling Corporation's share price fell below the required minimum for the
S&P/TSX Composite Index and was removed from the
index
Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index''
* The Index, an item on the Halo Array in the ...
.
In July 2022, Precision Drilling acquired High Arctic Energy Services Inc.'s welling services and rental divisions for $29.3 million.
Global fleet
In December 2023, Precision had 97
land drilling rigs in Canada (25% of total 386), 104 in the US (9% of total Super-Spec land drilling rigs), and 13 among
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...
, and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
.
See also
*
List of oilfield service companies
This is a list of oilfield service companies – which provide services to the petroleum exploration and production industry but do not typically produce petroleum. In the list, notable subsidiary companies and divisions are listed as sub-lists o ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Oilfield services companies
Oil companies of Canada
Companies based in Calgary
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1969
1969 establishments in Alberta
2010 Copiapó mining accident
Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange